Tuomas A. Laitinen: Siphon

Siphon is a multimedia exhibition built around an immersive multichannel video of octopuses, whose shifting camouflage patterns, skin textures, and colors merge into a single undulating visual landscape meant to be felt in the body. It was created by Helsinki-based artist Tuomas A. Laitinen, drawing on more than a decade of research into octopus intelligence, sleep, and consciousness, developed in collaboration with neuroscientist Sam Reiter of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology and produced with support by PALO. Water-filled tanks hold blown-glass sculptures arranged by Japanese ikebana master Kosen Ohtsubo, while an eight-channel spatial audio work, 8Eternal, with vocals by Kenyan composer Nyokabi Kariuki, spreads through the Main Hall as beams of sound from ultrasonic speakers. Curated by Gabriel Florenz and commissioned by Pioneer Works, the exhibition invites reflection on what non-human forms of intelligence reveal about perception, awareness, and our relationship to the natural world.